Quote:
Proponents of a major retailer’s construction plan conclude that it will bring a net benefit to small businesses. They claim that because the government-subsidized construction will have “trickle down” effects for small businesses, small businesses will gain overall.
Each of the following, if true, raises a concern in opposition to the conclusion above, EXCEPT:
A. Building efficient marketing campaigns is top priority for small business and would be abandoned by the big business, which does not care about efficiency.
B. Employees needed by small business would prefer to work for the major retailer.
C. Small businesses will win subcontracts to provide materials and products needed during construction of the retail store.
D. If government subsidies are given to the large retailer, there will be less money available for small business development.
E. Increased government debt needed to subsidize the plan will depress the local economy.
First thing to do when trying to solve CR questions is to figure out what exactly is the question asking of you. In this case, question asks us to pick a statement which is in
not in opposition to the conclusion. In other words, it's asking us to figure out what strengthens the conclusion.
Next, we have to figure out what is the conclusion.
Giving the stem a read tells us that the sentence in bold is the actual conclusion. Over here it's told to us that "..conclude that it will.." which makes it easy to figure it out.
The rest of the stem is what brings the proponents of the construction plan to this particular conclusion.
A. Building efficient marketing campaigns is top priority for small business and would be abandoned by the big business, which does not care about efficiency.
This weakens, since it's describing an issue for the small businesses.B. Employees needed by small business would prefer to work for the major retailer.
Once again, this weakens since it's a negative for the small businesses.C. Small businesses will win subcontracts to provide materials and products needed during construction of the retail store.
This is the answer. It's saying that the construction plan will have a benefit for the small businesses.I just mark the answer and move on once I find a clear winner especially considering how this is a question which you'll obtain fairly early on in the exam and you'd want to have more time in the bank for the later questions. But don't hesitate to cross check your answer by going through the rest of the options as well, since you are more than halfway through the options if you're reading option C.
D. If government subsidies are given to the large retailer, there will be less money available for small business development.
This weakens/
E. Increased government debt needed to subsidize the plan will depress the local economy.
This weakens. Don't question the logic behind why increased debt will necessarily depress the local economy. Mark C and move on.